Introduction

This volume of contributions is focused on the adaptation, accountability and operation of charities and stems from two international workshops sponsored by the University of Hong Kong. The originating purpose of the workshops was to facilitate an examination into the ownership, participation and accountability of charities in a regional, localised and international context. To this end the volume draws on the experiences and operation of charities, both international and indigenous, across a wide range of jurisdictions from China to Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Lebanon and Turkey to name but a few. The cross-jurisdictional nature of the chapters is complimented by a cross-disciplinary exploration of the operation of charities, thus offering a unique and multidimensional exploration on the functioning and identification of the influencing factors impacting the operation of charities. The workshops provided insightful narratives as to the operation and adaptation of charities at a localised level whilst simultaneously identifying commonalities in the experiences applicable to both national and international charities. Due to the plurality of the workshops, this collection of contributions is unique in that they discuss the issues in context to specific circumstances and individual charities, marking a move away from abstract discussions and theoretical evaluations. Rather than offering a descriptive account of the pre-existing body of literature (Finer 1941; Pfeffer 1998) surrounding both the definition and functioning of accountability and the competing debates (Buckmaster 1999; Campbell 2002; Hoefer 2000; Keating and Frumkin 2003; Lampkin and Boris 2002; Poole, Davis, Reisman and Nelson 2001) of such definitions, the workshops focused on the practical experiences of charities placing such theory in context.